Queensland has announced today that it will close its border to all residents of New South Wales and the ACT from 1 am on Saturday, August 8th.
Today’s decision to declare the whole of NSW and ACT as COVID-19 hotspots comes off the back of Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying she was becoming increasingly concerned about rising community transmission rates in southern states.
“We cannot risk a second wave. We have to act decisively,” she said.
“We have to put Queenslanders first.”
The move follows last week’s border closure of the Queensland border to residents of Greater Sydney alongside Victorian residents.
Last Wednesday’s announcement that the Queensland border would be closing to residents of Greater Sydney on Saturday saw a rush on the roads and in the air, with airfares spiking and increased anxiety for people racing to get back into Queensland before the closure came into effect.
Speaking this morning at a media address, Ms Palaszczuk said her decision had been influenced by a number of people who had breached the state’s border requirements in recent days, by lying to authorities about their movements and whereabouts.
It was only on July 10 that the Queensland border reopened to all states except Victoria, rejoicing that the state was “good to go” and kick-starting much-needed domestic tourism again to the sunshine state in the height of the winter.
Today’s announcement will only bring more pain to an already stretched travel and tourism industry due to the impact of international and domestic border closures.
Not to mention the same run on airfares and the roads as we saw last week.
READ: Which Australian Borders Are Open And To Whom? Your Essential Guide